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Oh dear, you not had good experience then.

I live in small village couple kilometres from small town and met plenty friendly bulgarians, no aggressive dogs, surrounded by fields.

@GoingDutch

So you don't like Bulgaria then?

Nowhere is perfect, and Bulgaria certainly isn't for everyone; if you're happier somewhere else, then congrats on finding your Shangri-la...

What I find hard to fathom is the posts from folks who know nothing about Bulgaria but still rock up announcing that "We're moving to BG in X weeks/months".  Goodness knows what they expect or what they've based their life-changing decision on, apart from how cheap property and living were a few years ago...I wonder if other EU countries being a lot tougher on immigration had anything to do with it?

Wierd that, When I was there recently all I could smell was fresh air! Fields upon fields of sunflowers,

If anything, it was a bit dusty when the farmer was harvesting his barley. settled down after a couple of hours though.

I even spent alot of time in Ruse. Never once did I feel sick with fumes from vehicles - especially as you describe "old German diesel cars"

I mean to put things into context, many of the cars in cities are French- Dacias (made by Renault) seem to be a popular choice for taxis, plenty of Citroen / Peugeot too. Also many many petrol cars too!

It seems to m at least that you are clutching at straws and looking to blame what you think are dirty diesels.. You even say yourself that no definitive diagnosis could be made.

Maybe look into the cause a bit deeper, for instance are you or have you ever been a smoker - or worked in a dusty or smoke filled environment, have you ever worked with Fiberglass or Asbestos? Worked with flour or in a bakery etc? Ever cut MDF or sanded wood? All of these and many many more examples can lead to COPD and other complications, or it could be as simple as that you have Asthma which can be exasperated by warm or hot weather.

It's unreasonable to blame BG for something that has probably been manifesting in you for many years and now is getting worse.

To blame it all on old German cars and burning fossil fuels is in my opinion just a load of old codswallop.

@knobworx

I'm afraid that your way off-base with this one!

Here in BG air pollution is a severe and well-recognised issue, with the country consistently having some of the highest rates of premature deaths from air pollution in the European Union.

Residential heating is one major contributor, especially during the winter: many households, particularly in more impoverished (read rural/ethnic) areas, rely on burning low-quality solid fuels like cheap coal, wood, and even rubbish/plastics for heating.

Bulgaria also has a large and aging fleet of private cars, with a higher-than-EU-average number per capita. ​A significant portion of these vehicles are old, second-hand diesel ones, often imported from other European countries. Many of them are over 10 years old and have had their emission control systems tampered with.  These old diesel vehicles are disproportionately responsible for emissions of nitrogen oxides and Fine Particulate Matter, contributing significantly to urban air pollution.

Coal-fired power plants are another major source of pollution. Bulgaria's reliance on coal for electricity and heat production leads to high levels of sulphur dioxide pollution; the European Court of Justice has found Bulgaria in breach of EU rules on air pollution due to its "deliberate, systematic and continuous" exceeding of the legal limits for fine particulate matter (PM10) and failure to address pollution from these plants. In addition,  in 2022, the ECJ found Bulgaria guilty again, this time for failing to address illegal levels of sulphur dioxide (SO²) pollution; this was specifically linked to several large coal-fired power plants in the southeastern region. There is also clear evidence of waste being burned at some of these old power plants, further exacerbating the problem.

So, nope, all is definitely NOT sweetness and light here when it comes to air quality - that's one reason why we live on a mountain! Pollution can actually be quite picturesque, when you're looking at other people breathing it.... 😎

@knobworx

The information is widely available on the internet. While cars in the rest of the EU got better, the old ones were offloaded to Bulgaria. You might not see the pollution, but it is there.

I get that there is always going to be some level of pollution, but to solely blame one man's (or woman's) undiagnosed condition on dirty diesels in one country is ludicrous!

@knobworx, the fact that the original poster's condition improved significantly when they moved suggests there may have been environmental factors involved. Possibly other things, too. Obviously they didn't have a good experience of Bulgaria.

We're very blessed that where we intend to live full-time is a village in a rural area. Sounds very like yours! The worst air pollution is dust from harvesting and plowing. Wood burning in winter doesn't seem to cause too much of an issue unless there's an inversion and the smoke gets held in the valley rather than dispersing, but it's a fair-sized valley with not too many occupied houses, so it's not bad. No one burns coal or rubbish in our area, though there are still a few old oil-fired heaters in use. I just have just given one away, my neighbour will do it up so the village doctor can use it in his greenhouse. And I believe the school uses oil-fired central heating, too. The fumes from those are probably quite horrible! Still, even in winter, air pollution readings in the region are rarely worse than those for our town in the UK.

But some of the Bulgarian regions do have undeniably serious issues with air quality that have health impacts. Some people are far more sensitive to these things than others.  I wouldn't be quite so dismissive of air pollution being a health issue in Bulgaria for some people.

What I find hard to fathom is the posts from folks who know nothing about Bulgaria but still rock up announcing that "We're moving to BG in X weeks/months". Goodness knows what they expect or what they've based their life-changing decision on, apart from how cheap property and living were a few years ago...I wonder if other EU countries being a lot tougher on immigration had anything to do with it? - @JimJ

It's possibly a bit off topic, but yes, I do wonder about that, too. I'd visited Bulgaria multiple times (and NOT holidays in touristy areas!) before buying our village house. The reality was still a massive shock. And we were blessed to end up in a very good village. I think many of those plans people pop up with on forums fall through when people discover that moving isn't quite as easy as the YouTube video or the seller's property listing made it sound. Or when they actually see what a 10,000 GBP village house is like. I though I knew, and hoo boy, I had a lot to learn!

Bulgaria definitely seems a Marmite country -- one either loves it or hates it. We're finding our village house feels more like home every time we stay there, even my confirmed townie husband loves it there. Yes, there are still huge challenges and frustrations and adjustments to make, and those aren't going to stop once we move, if anything, we'll hit more challenges. That's just life. But when we find our "home" we know it.

@GoingDutch

you are right yes hhhh it's the diesel cars not the chemtrials or the geoengineer, or the weather modifications at all. it's not those plans that sprays chemicals at all.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

What I find hard to fathom is the posts from folks who know nothing about Bulgaria but still rock up announcing that "We're moving to BG in X weeks/months". Goodness knows what they expect or what they've based their life-changing decision on, apart from how cheap property and living were a few years ago...I wonder if other EU countries being a lot tougher on immigration had anything to do with it?  - @JimJ
It's possibly a bit off topic, but yes, I do wonder about that, too. I'd visited Bulgaria multiple times (and NOT holidays in touristy areas!) before buying our village house. The reality was still a massive shock. And we were blessed to end up in a very good village. I think many of those plans people pop up with on forums fall through when people discover that moving isn't quite as easy as the YouTube video or the seller's property listing made it sound. Or when they actually see what a 10,000 GBP village house is like. I though I knew, and hoo boy, I had a lot to learn!
Bulgaria definitely seems a Marmite country -- one either loves it or hates it. We're finding our village house feels more like home every time we stay there, even my confirmed townie husband loves it there. Yes, there are still huge challenges and frustrations and adjustments to make, and those aren't going to stop once we move, if anything, we'll hit more challenges. That's just life. But when we find our "home" we know it. - @janemulberry

The real trouble is that people fail to do their homework first. They see these wonderful stories in The Daily Mail. We bought a house for 30,000 GBP with some land, because our rent was too much in the UK.

@knobworx

I don't understand the people these days🤔diesel and gasoline is the main cause of solutions? and airplanes no? spraying the sky 24/7 with aluminum and barium and so etc... I think people are herds and sheep's they don't look at the sky.

bulgarian government has long sold their soul to the devil.

pharmaceutical industries wants you sick all the time and not healthy.

check what it say for the Agenda 21/30 about the depopulation.

bulgaria leader back then in 1992 have signed it in Davos and so 175 countries as well.

@josephsaad44

And what do you find so objectionable about accepting the fact that there are too many people on the planet for the available resources to sustain?

Is it perhaps that the supply of millinery-grade aluminium will be insufficient? 😀

@JimJ

what available resource it needs to sustain? resources are enough for all humanity, let us be free on the planet and we do not need any leadership or government to tell us what's good or bad and how to live our life to the fullest.

who are they to judge us how to live and when to die?🤔

@josephsaad44

Well, their legitimacy - such as it is - comes from being elected to run things on our behalf. "Every man for himself" is simple anarchy; in a world of intelligent and informed adults that might well work - but we don't live in such a world or indeed in anything even approaching it.

Bulgaria isn't everyone's cup of tea, that's for sure.

But @GoingDutch is particularly negative, and such a reaction is not typical.

I agree with @mickg and @knobworx that the problems are rather overstated.

Pollution has historically been an issue, it's true, so it's easy to find stories and statistics to support the dirty narrative. But there are EU guidelines on pollution, and Bulgaria has made a lot of progress on this, even if perhaps it lags behind the other, richer. EU members.

There have been changes promoting clean heating rather than solid fuel, electric buses/trains, and both Sofia and Plovdiv have Low Emission Zones. In any case, the "dirty diesels" headline is WAY off base, it's absolutely the case that the vast majority (95% ish) of Bulgarian pollution is generated by industry (inc. transportation and power) and agriculture, rather than private vehicles and/or wood/coal stoves in private homes. Moreover, Bulgaria has a TEENY population, so the population density across the country (apart from the cities) is so low that it's very hard to be overly polluting, unless you choose to live next to a power station / big factory / motorway.

I hang out at Bansko (ski/mountain resort) and our village house in the Balkan Mountains. In both areas the air seems pretty great to me. Indeed, I walked for an hour up our mountain yesterday, at dawn, and it was an absolute treat! Our main pad is in central(ish) Plovdiv, and the air quality is pretty good most of the time, as long you don't go stand on one of the main boulevards during rush hour. :-) The big parks near our flat are the Rowing Canal/Maritsa River, Alyosha Hill and Youth Hill... and each one is very decent from an air quality perspective.

For those that are still worried, here's a live map of air quality.

Aside from that, I've not seen any aggressive street dogs, but I've met plenty of very friendly Bulgarians, including our village neighbours who are delightful. I have street lights in Bansko, Plovdiv, and Kazanlak and mostly they are well maintained with no dangerous cables. Plovdiv has plenty of green spaces (the central Tsar Simeon Gardens which are very nice, plus the others I already mentioned) and a walking/cycling path network across most of the city (and the Rodope Mountains just 10km away). Bansko (and Pirin National Park), the Rodopes, and the Balkan Mountains are obviously 99% green spaces. :-) And spectacular too, I heartily recommend them.

The original post, I think, says more about the poster than Bulgaria. Unfortunately, when we're sick and fed up, then it's easy to find fault with everything around us.

The reality is that Bulgaria is in the EU, and there are standards to be followed (not just in pollution), and infrastructure to build. But Bulgaria is the poorest country in the EU, so, inevitably, it can't spend as much money as its richer fellow members. So everything (parks, lighting, roads, pollution levels, trash collection, public transport, etc.) is worse, or even significantly worse than the others. But it's all relative, so the poorest, dirtiest, shabbiest country in the EU is still far better than loads of other non-EU countries.

We have a great life here, and we enjoy a lifestyle far beyond what we could afford elsewhere. It's not perfect, but it's very, very nice, as long as we have some perspective about the trade-offs. Sure, I'd rather still be living on the beach in Cyprus or Spain... but we can't afford it. For those that can afford it, I'd absolutely agree that life on a Mediterranean Beach is cleaner, quieter, more relaxing, and more uplifting than life in Bulgaria. :-)

Interesting link to the air quality site, Gwyn. At present the live readings show a "good" air quality level in all Bg cities with only a few spots of "moderate" (though that may depend where the monitors are located). I don't think there's any doubt that some areas in Bg do have air quality issues -- just as some parts of London and other UK cities and towns do. Our smallish UK town often shows as "moderate" air quality, either because of airborne dust and pollens from nearby agriculture, or more concerning, the prevailing winds blowing the traffic emissions from the A1 motorway into the town.

Unfortunately, judging by their past posts, @goingdutch had a very negative overall experience of Bulgaria. Also possibly a particular sensitivity to certain types of air pollution.

The value of this thread might be not to diss him or Bulgaria, but to be aware that anyone who knows they have a sensitivity to air pollution and especially PM2.5 particles would be wise to investigate air quality before making a move, no matter which country or region they're considering.

@janemulberry

investigate you say? 🤔🤔what is exactly you need to investigate? all you need to do is lift your head up in the sky and look at the planes spraying above your heads with chemicals. trying to block your Co.2 and make you sick. no need to look further and type nonsense.

it's very obvious and clear.

Tin foil hat alert

Bulgaria isn't the only country where people have concerns about air quality.

Air pollution in Montenegro is a barrier to staying here

@gwynj

I assume that you ARE aware that " In any case, the "dirty diesels" headline is WAY off base, it's absolutely the case that the vast majority (95% ish) of Bulgarian pollution is generated by industry (inc. transportation and power) and agriculture, rather than private vehicles and/or wood/coal stoves in private homes." simply isn't the case? Indeed the reverse is true, not to mention that PM2.5s are rightly regarded are the most dangerous pollutants to human health, followed by Sulphur compounds...

In addition, the amounts and types of air pollution are of course seasonal, with emissions due to domestic heating considerably higher in the winter months.

@janemulberry
investigate you say? 🤔🤔what is exactly you need to investigate? all you need to do is lift your head up in the sky and look at the planes spraying above your heads with chemicals. trying to block your Co.2 and make you sick. no need to look further and type nonsense.
it's very obvious and clear. - @josephsaad44

It's only "very obvious and clear" to those who believe in paranoid conspiracy theories with no credible evidence.  As for "typing nonsense", I can't help but think that you sound rather like a character in "Стъклен дом"....😎

[Post under review]

@josephsaad44

Please stop talking complete rubbish!! Checks facts first.

Recent headlines referring to a "confession" likely stem from a NewsNation investigation in late August/early September 2025 that revealed the U.S. Army sprayed a chemical containing a known carcinogen, zinc cadmium sulfide, over a St. Louis neighbourhood during the Cold War. Some residents believe this experiment was linked to subsequent illnesses. However, this "confession" does not apply to the widespread conspiracy theories about large-scale chemical spraying (chemtrails) or complete weather control.

I should add to my post about investigating air quality using EU data and sites like the one Gwyn recommended before choosing where to move to.

For those who believe the chem trails theory (currently without any supporting evidence, as far as I know even Robert Kennedy doesn't believe this one!) and so may be bothered by flights through the airspace over their property, consider looking at a site like Flight Radar which shows air traffic and flight paths before deciding where to move.

Bulgaria does get a lot of air traffic, and not only flights to Bulgaria and Turkey. Since the first Russian incursion into the Crimea the flight path for journeys between Europe and the Middle East moved west to fly over Bulgaria rather than Ukraine. We get quite a few high altitude longer-haul flights over our property. There appear to have been no effects at all on the health of people living in the area.

I don't believe the theory myself. But I remember there was one former forum member who did who was extremely distressed to discover his newly purchased house was directly under the main flight path into Sofia airport. Simply checking Flight Radar before buying could have saved him some grief.